Friendship Kitchen gives locals early Christmas presents

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - The North Parkersburg Baptist Church hosted its annual Christmas party at the Friendship Kitchen curbside this year.

A line formed in front of the Friendship Kitchen half an hour before the Christmas event even officially began. The line moved with conveyor-belt efficiency, while people were handed free Christmas meals and gifts. The founder of Friendship Kitchen Susie Meredith said, of the approximately 25 years the event has run, this is the first time they used every single crumb of turkey prepared.

Meredith added that the food and gift-giving didn’t end there.

“We serve a big to-go ministry here because we had 55 meals today that have to be delivered because they’re afraid of the coronavirus or they’re not able.”

It seems the Friendship Kitchen lives up to its name as the food and hundreds of presents were all community donations.

The church and the community that supports its mission were put to the test this year.

Meredith said the church has seen the amount of people they serve skyrocket since the pandemic hit.

“Three days a week we average almost a thousand a week and we, by now, have almost 30,000 meals we have served to people three days a week since the pandemic started.”

Still, the church is living up to its mission to serve.

Here’s to the true spirit of Christmas.

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